There has to be a reason for Liz and Dick mania.

Why, at this time, are there two books dealing with the famous, furious, endlessly fascinating relationship of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor? (And they’re following closely behind Kate Andersen Brower’s epic biography of Taylor) 

And why is a London play about Burton’s Hamlet appearance currently selling out every night?

Outside the theater, the street was lined with thousands of people since Liz picked Dick up every night after the show.

In fact, I saw that play within a play; the one referenced in the new show, which is headed to Broadway. As a young child, on my first trip to New York in 1964, my parents took me to see Burton, directed by John Gielgud, in Hamlet. 

I knew little about Shakespeare, but I remember being mesmerized, especially by the fact that the actors performed in “plain clothes.” But what I most recall is walking out of the theater and seeing the street lined with thousands of people. It turned out that Liz picked Dick up every night in a limousine. I had never seen such fandom. (Well, until I saw the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl a few months later.)

Read More: Is There Anything More We Can Learn About Barbra Streisand?

Behind-the-Scenes with the Burtons

As for the current books, I just read Philip Gefter’s Cocktails with George and Martha, a well-reported telling of Mike Nichols’ film version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  Virtually every moment of that wild production is detailed here, with the emphasis being on “The Burtons,” as they were known among the cast and crew. Real life occasionally imitated their reel version. The pair bickered; she worried about playing a dowdy 48 (she was 34); and they sucked up all the air and attention wherever scenes were shot. In the end, the couple worked hard, earning the respect of their co-workers, as well as professional plaudits. (And Liz took home the “Best Actress” Oscar in 1967.)

The Couple’s Erotic Chemistry 

The other book currently making waves is Erotic Vagrancy: Everything about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor by Roger Lewis. This one is about the author’s own obsession with the couple, who famously fell in love on the set of Cleopatra. The author makes many points about Taylor and Burton’s undeniable chemistry, causing them to break others’ hearts as they wed…and then divorced and wed again. Lewis claims Burton was both “ashamed of his need for the spotlight,” and then too besotted to find a way out. A classic “can’t live with her, can’t live without her” dynamic.

Taking Their Drama to the Stage

And then there is The Motive and the Cue, playing on stage in London’s West End, after a sold-out run at the National. Directed by Sam Mendes, this is about Burton’s Broadway Hamlet appearance, and even though Liz was not part of that show, she plays a key role.  Once again, it is simply too tempting to portray one Burton’s life without the other.

Why Are We Still So Fascinated?

So why this suddenly refreshed obsession with Hollywood’s most famous couple…ever? Has there been such a hunger for great gossip since Brad and Angelina broke up? Affleck and his current Jennifer (J-Lo returns!) may be the closest to the Burtons: In terms of glamor and how they fell out of love and then back in. I guess you could say Taylor Swift and her football star Travis Kelce are as closely followed as Liz and Dick were. There’s something magnetic about two megastars coming together that is irresistible, and the Burtons, with all their ups and downs, never fail to capture our attention.

Burton’s connection to Taylor was a classic “can’t live with her, can’t live without her” dynamic

Even at the end, when they were each married to others, it was always clear that Taylor and Burton’s was a one-of-a-kind saga. We followed it all. Love on the set! Bye bye, Eddie Fisher; bye bye, Sybil Burton! The magnetic pull between Liz and Dick left collateral damage. Their world was one of mediocre movies made together, jewels, marriage, divorce, marriage again, rendezvous in Puerto Vallarta, health-scares. While Liz was always the one battling illness, Dick died first in 1984, at 58 years old. Liz passed in 2011 at 79.

So, why now this barrage of the Burtons? Maybe we’ve been so TikToked by celebs sharing their days that we’re hungry for a time when we all shared interest in famous private lives…that were kept private. Liz and Dick spent more years apart than not, but they managed to be their own people, love and fight in equal measure, and yet keep enough mystery that we always wanted to know more.

And now, we can do it all over again.

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Michele Willens is the author of “From Mouseketeers to Menopause.”